Kaspersky to invest $2 million in sales, marketing network

Russian anti-virus and content security solutions provider Kaspersky , which has its south Asian hub in Hyderabad, will be investing $2 million (approximately Rs 9.4 crore) in its India operations during 2010, primarily to enhance its partnership network and scale up sales and marketing efforts, said its managing director (south Asia), Gun Suk Ling.

“We currently have around 800 partners, which we plan to double by the end of the next calendar,” Suk Ling told mediapersons adding that the company was studying various cities in the country to set up an R&D and a call centre to cater to its customer base across south Asia.

In the last three years, Kaspersky had sold 2 million licences in India and is expecting to grow by 130 per cent in 2010. The company has Hyderabad-headquartered Zoom Technologies and Pune-based Sakri IT Solutions as its exclusive distributors. The relationship with them would continue, she said.

Stating that the Indian anti-virus market is pegged at $200 million (consumer $80 million and enterprise $120 million), Ling said the company’s current market share in the country was 15 per cent in the consumer segment and less than five per cent in the enterprise space (which also includes the government sector).

“We have started approaching enterprises directly and are in negotiations with various state governments and educational departments,” she said, adding the company will be launching a new anti-virus product targeting the enterprise segment in India soon.

Kaspersky will be hosting a student conference on cybercrime in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) between February 25 and 28, 2011. The conference brings together students, experts, scientists and researchers in a collaborative environment to present and discuss issues relating to cybercrime.

“We are holding an Apac and MEA (Middle East and Africa) cup to enable countries with visa constraints to participate in the international cup (example China and South Africa), scheduled to be held in Munich (Germany) in April 2011,” Ling said.